Wicked Meets Warriors
by rikubean
Summary: What happens when the witches from Oz find themselves in the ThunderClan? Will they be accepted? Will they ever get back home? [Wicked crossover] Disclaimer: NOT MINE!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know, I know. For follower of my Wicked fic: New chapter's coming. I promise. I didn't lose my muse, it's on vacation! Okay, okay, I can't find inspiration. (Reviews help, though!) So, I was reading some Warriors fics when I decided to combine the two. Now, I know some people have decided to name the opposite StarClan WickedClan. I'm _okay_ with that, I'm just not using WickedClan. **

**Now, for those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about when I say Wicked, read on. Those of you who do, you can skip to the title.**

**Wicked is basically the other side to the Wizard of Oz. I mean, the Witch had to have had a childhood, a mother, and a father. Gregory Maguire decided to write a book portraying the Witch's (now named Elphaba, after Lyman Frank Baum's initials) life, from birth to death. The book is called _Wicked, the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West._ There's a sequil, too, _Son of a Witch_, which follows the life of her son, Liir. If you don't like "adult themes," _don't read the books._ It doesn't even matter, anyway, this is based off of the musical. The basic synopsis is that Elphaba is… green. And she goes to Shiz University and there meets Galinda (later Glinda the Good). Glinda and Elphaba end up as roommates and _loathe_ each other from the start. Galinda is frilly, loves pink, and very popular. Do to an even at the Ozdust ballroom in which Galinda tricks Elphaba into wearing the black pointy hat, Elphaba gets Galinda into the sorcery seminar that she got and Galinda wanted. Galinda then stopped the other students from laughing at Elphaba by joining her in her odd dancing. The two girls are then friends. Galinda tries to make Elphaba popular, and then Elphie, her new nickname, gets a letter from the Wizard and learns he's a fake. –inhale- Yes, that's a lot to take in. The Wizard gives her a spell book, the Grimmerie, and she accidentally caused the Monkeys to grow wings. She then realizes that the Wizard is responsible for the stripping of the Animal's rites. Elphaba flees to the palace's attic and castes the levitation spell used on the Monkeys on a broomstick. She then asks Glinda (changed her name in honor of Doctor Dillamond, a Goat teacher that was taken away) to come with her. Glinda refused and then went on to the path of life that would lead her to become Glinda the Good, and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. **

**If you're still confused, personal message me and I'll give an _entire_ summary, possibly with spoilers, but I'll _try_ not to. All in all, you really only need to know that Glinda and Elphaba are _best_ friends. **

**So, I think I've rambled enough about Act I. Act II isn't important, except that the Tinman is Boq, a Munchkin boy that had a crush on Glinda. The Scarecrow… the Scarecrow's real identity is a spoiler. Sorry! Fiyero might turn up in later chapters. He's an Arjiki prince from the Vinkus, the land out to the West. He might be booksicalverse, as in the tattoos from the book. Anyway, Glinda and Elphaba both fall for him. And Nessarose is the Wicked Witch of the East, also called Nessa. **

**Wicked Meets Warriors: Chapter One**

"Elphie, they're coming for you!" Glinda cried.

"Fine. Let them come," Elphaba answered stubbornly. "I want Nessa's shoes!"

Glinda felt a stab of guilt. It was her fault they were even in this mess. "Please, Elphie, try to understand. They won't leave until you're dead. You have to try _something!"_

"I don't think there's a spell for that. The power is mysterious. It doesn't always work." She thought of poor Fiyero, probably beaten to death because she couldn't save him. No Good Deed truly goes unpunished.

"Just look! I'll help as mush as I can! There _has_ to be something!" Glinda was sinking into hysteria, now. "Please, Elphaba, I don't want to lose you, too."

"All right. I'll look for as long as…" She glanced around the room, and her eyes rested on an hourglass. "As long as the sand is in this hourglass." She picked it up, and dumped it over. The red sand seeped slowly into the lower basin. Immediately, Elphaba set the Grimmerie on the ground and began to flip through its pages…

(**PAGEBREAK!)**

"_Firestar, you have to do something," a voice rang out. Firestar scanned the undergrowth for the speaker, his ears flicking this way and that to catch the sound._

"_But what? What can I do? There's conflict within the Clan, and I've lost Graystripe. Where is he?" he yowled. _

_A bush rustled. Firestar automatically spun his head to see what made the noise. Spottedleaf, ThunderClan's medicine cat before Yellowfang, Cinderpelt's mentor, emerged. _

"_Firestar, StarClan can't solve your problems for you. We can only help as much as we can," she purred. _

"_But, Spottedleaf, I can't do it on my own. I need my deputy. But, I can't get him back. I don't know where he is, and Squirrelpaw hasn't come back yet. Are you determined to make me miserable? I can't leave the forest, no matter how many twolegs try to make me. ThunderClan will remain strong."_

_Spottedleaf said nothing. Her eyes misted over, and she said, "Perceived evil will come to the forest, and the most unlikely heroes will emerge. The clans must unite, or a greater evil will descend on them." She blinked, as if coming out of a trance. "Firestar, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer…" _

"_Spottedleaf, wait!" Firestar yowled to her fading form. He stood there until the only thing remaining was her sweet scent. _

**(PAGEBREAK!)**

The sand was almost out. Glinda was worried. Elphaba still hadn't found anything. Just for a moment, her eyes lingered on a page. Glinda caught the motion.

"Elphie, can that one help?" she asked softly.

"I-I think so," Elphaba replied slowly.

"Quick! Cast it! They're almost here!" the blonde **(Glinda, for non-Wicked fans)** cried.

Elphaba did just that. She started chanting in the ancient language of the Grimmerie. Currents flew through the air, causing Glinda's perfect curls to stick up slightly, and Elphaba's ebony mane to pull up at the edges.

Silence. Glinda tentatively opened her eyes—when did she close them? She found herself in a forest—though not the Great Gillikin, or the Forest of Fighting Trees. She looked around. Her vision seemed to have improved somehow. But where was Elphaba? She panicked the only creatures apart from her were cats, one with a fiery orange pelt, and green eyes that pierced through her; the other was mostly black with… _green paws and muzzle?_ The black and green cat opened its eyes and stared back at her. Glinda looked away, but then did a double take. That cat had muddy brown eyes _the exact shade of Elphaba's! _

What was going on?

**(Elphaba's POV)**

Elphaba must've stopped chanting, because she didn't hear a thing. Then the world opened up onto a flurry of forest sounds.

She looked up and opened her eyes at the familiar feeling of being watched. She stared back at the bluish-white cat, with perfect azure eyes just like…

"Glinda?" she whispered. Her voice came in a throaty whisper.

"Elphie?" the cat replied. "But, how did—?" She was cut off by an orange cat at the other end of the clearing making himself known.

"Who are you?" he asked in an authoritative voice.

"Um…" The former witches glanced at each other. Would he believe them? "Well, my name's Elphaba," she said at last. "And this is my friend, Glinda."

Glinda nodded. "And you are—?"

"Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, whose territory you happen to be in," Firestar told them.

"What's a ThunderClan?" Glinda asked.

"You don't know about the clans? Do you come from over the mountains?" Firestar asked in a calm tone.

"Well… we're not exactly sure," Elphaba began. "We come from a distant land, known as Oz, and we're not sure why we're here, and why we're _cats._"

"We used to be people. Then Elphie here casted some spell of some kind to save her and the next thing we know, we're here." Glinda added.

"So… you're twolegs, like the ones destroying the forest," Firestar spat. "Well you listen here, we like the way that it is. Tell your kind to stop."

"With all due respect, we'd _like_ to help you, considering that you seem to be Animals, but there's just one problem: _we're stuck here._ The Grimmerie didn't come with me," Elphaba snapped.

"Please, Firestar, we don't want to harm you. We can help you! We could… I don't know, tend the sick or something. Just, please, _please_, don't just leave us here. We'd die on our own."

Elphaba sighed inwardly at Glinda's drama. Although, it would be nice to have help figuring this out.

"All right," Firestar mewed, "you can stay in ThunderClan if the others accept you. Just one more thing," he turned to Elphaba, who saw what was coming, "wash that green of your face and paws. My clan won't find that funny."

Elphaba sighed again. _Well, we may as well get this over with…_ "I can't. It's my color. I don't know what happened, but even as a hu—twoleg I was green. It's just me. Here, watch." She lifted her paw and licked it as she'd seen cats and Cats do. The green coloring didn't come off.

"Okay, follow me, then." And he bounded off into the woods, leaving Glinda and Elphaba to follow.

**A/N: Um, that turned out longer than I thought it would. So, review, and let me know how OC Firestar is… I haven't read the books in a while, but I did my best!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, figured I may as well get this up, considering the Warriors fandom goes _way_ faster than Wicked. So, if you're confused about Wicked, the only thing that isn't explained now is who Glinda and Elphaba are. This'll now take place in Warriors, and the only time a whole lot of Wicked is mentioned is when it's Glinda or Elphaba's POV. **

**Wicked Meets Warriors: Chapter Two**

"'_Okay, follow me, then'…"_

Glinda and Elphaba had no choice but to follow Firestar through the woods. They did their best to keep up, but he was fast!

"Fire—star—wait—up!" Glinda panted.

Firestar paused for a second. "Keep up!" he mewed and turned and continued the trek through the undergrowth.

Glinda would've groaned—if she were still a person, that is. Instead, she scrambled after Elphaba.

They came to a gorse tunnel that opened up to a clearing full of cats. Glinda marveled at how she could tell almost how many cats there were, just by scent!

While she was distracted, she didn't realize that Firestar had leapt onto a large rock. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here below the Highrock for a Clan meeting," he called into the clearing. Immediately, cats of all sizes came out of little notches, dens, Glinda guessed, and came gathered below the Highrock.

The Clan noticed the two strange cats sitting next to the Highrock. Most of them hissed at Elphaba, and it was apparent that they were wary of her green fur.

"Silence," Firestar meowed. "These cats are our guests for the night. They aren't here to harm us. StarClan said to be welcoming to strangers."

"Did StarClan say to welcome two mouths to feed, with food supply growing short?" a dark brown tabby called.

The news unsettled Glinda, and her fur stood up on its own accord.

"Well, Dustpelt, we'll have to make due until we've heard their story," Firestar replied. "Until then, I expect you to treat them with respect." He turned to Glinda and Elphaba. "You two, meet me in my den." He jumped down and went into a small cave with lichen surrounding the opening. Elphaba glared back at the Clan, who hadn't stopped staring, and walked into Firestar's den, tail and head held high. After a moment's hesitation, Glinda followed.

The den was darker then Glinda thought, and after she blinked a few times, her new cat's eyes adjusted. It was plainer than she expected, with a sandy floor and a pile of moss in the corner for bedding. But, what was she expecting? Oz's Best brand catnip? She had to remind herself that they were in the woods.

"Now," began Firestar, "where did you say you came from, again?"

"The Land of Oz," responded Elphaba. "A group of witch hunters was coming to Kiamo Ko, the castle where I had taken residence, and Glinda here wanted me to try one last spell from the Grimmerie and so I did. I found a transportation spell to take you were you were needed most. I casted it, and here we are."

"And why were you being hunted?" Firestar seemed to be tackling their story bit-by-bit.

"For standing up for what I thought was right," she replied with a trace of a growl in her voice.

"And what was that?" His utter _calmness_ was getting on Glinda's nerves.

"That Animals should be seen _and_ heard." Glinda remembered the words on Doctor Dillamond's chalkboard, "Animals Should Be Seen And Not Heard."

"Animals? Like foxes and badgers, too?" _He clearly doesn't know what we're talking about,_ thought Glinda.

"Yes, Foxes, Tigers, and all other Animals!" A pause. "Well, animals can talk in Oz, and our stupid Wizard was stripping them of their rites and making it so that they couldn't talk anymore," Elphaba explained.

"I see. So, the Wizard is evil?" Firestar asked.

"Evil? He's the worst of them all!" she exclaimed. "And they call me Wicked," she added.

"So, this Oz thinks _you're _evil, and the Wizard is good, only you're good, and the Wizard is evil?" he mewed.

"Yes!" Elphaba lit up at the fact that someone believed her. "Is that all?"

"Not quite." He turned to Glinda. "How do you fit into all of this?"

"Me? To the Ozians, I'm Glinda the Good. I was with Elphi—Elphaba when she found out that the Wizard was a fake. I'm her best friend. Only, Oz doesn't know that. To them, Elphaba Thropp is the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands is Glinda the Good." She tried to impress Firestar with their titles. It didn't matter, though, because Firestar didn't know how rich people from the Uplands were.

"I see. Well, then. You can sleep in the warriors' den. Head over to the medicine cats' den. It's over in the back, by the nursery. See if you can help them."

"Yes, sir!" Glinda ran out of Firestar's den and went to look for the medicine cat den. Her bluish fur practically glowed in the afternoon sun. If only Fiyero could see how she looked now. She could almost feel his eyes on her… Wait just a clock-tick, there _was_ someone staring at her! She whirled around to come face-to-face with the brown tom that'd spoken out before—what did Firestar call him? Dustpelt?

"What?" Glinda asked him.

"Nothing, it's just… you and your friend are different," he mewed. "I can tell."

Glinda would've told him off, that is, if she didn't think she'd have to be in the same den as him. "Look, if you're just going to keep staring at me, you may as well help me find the medicine cat den."

"Follow me," he mewled and ran off in the direction Glinda had been heading.

They passed a den covered with a lot of ferns, and pitiful meows were coming from within. _So that must be the nursery, _Glinda thought.

Dustpelt lead her to a separate clearing, where two cats were scurrying around with leaves in their mouths. One was dark gray, and seemed to be limping; the other was a small tortoiseshell.

"Thanks. I'm fine from here," Glinda said to Dustpelt. "Just, could you find Elphi—Elphaba for me?"

"You mean the green she-cat? Ugh, fine." He ran off.

"Um… hi," Glinda said to the medicine cats. "F-Firestar asked me to come help you."

"And you are—?" the gray she-cat spoke up.

"Glinda Upland. Um… me and my friend Elphaba came here from Oz," she explained somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh, you're the ones Firestar was talking about at the meeting. My name's Cinderpelt, and this is my apprentice Leafpaw," Cinderpelt said.

"Hi," Leafpaw mewed.

"Is there anything you need help with? I don't really know what to do," Glinda said.

"Yes, we need to go out and gather some marigold leaves. You can help us," Cinderpelt answered.

"Okay, but, well, you see, Elphaba's supposed to help us. Only, I don't know where she went. Did she come by here?" she asked.

"Oh, you mean the green cat. No, she didn't. I haven't seen her since she went into Firestar's den with you."

**A/N: Cliffhanger! (To the non-existent readers…) Okay, things to look foreword to in the next chapter:  
****1. What happened to Elphaba.  
****2. Messages from StarClan  
****3. Less Wicked-related-ness!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: YAY! I'm done with the third chapter. This is from Elphaba's POV, sorry it took so long! School, dance, dance _team,_ Girl Scouts, procrastination, writer's block, co-ed camp, and just plain laziness caught up with me.**

**Wicked Meets Warriors—Chapter Three**

"'_No, I haven't seen her…'"_

In fact, Elphaba was still in Firestar's den. She'd been asking him questions about his rites, and why he lived in the forest. Firestar, of course, didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about. Aspirated, Elphaba just gave up and asked him about life in the forest. It was then that she'd learned about the four clans, the warrior code, and that there was a Gathering in two nights' time—and about the destruction of the forest.

"Firestar," Elphaba started, "if you don't mind me asking, why don't you have a deputy?"

Firestar flinched visibly, and seemed to shrink in size, head drooping until his nose was inches from the sandy floor.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to bring it up. I was just… just curious, that's all," she stammered, bewildered by his reaction.

"No, it's not your fault," he said, "you couldn't know."

Their conversation was cut short then by Dustpelt coming in to—probably—tell Firestar that Elphaba was missing. He stared at Elphaba for a moment before mewling, "Glinda wants you. Follow me."

Wordlessly, Elphaba trotted out of the den, without so much as a second glance to the grieving Firestar.

They passed what appeared to be a bunch of branches covering a slight hole, Elphaba understood this to be the nursery. They walked into the medicine cats' clearing.

"Elphie, there you are," Glinda merowed. "I was wondering where you went."

"Glinda, we're _definitely_ not in Oz," Elphaba muttered into her friend's ear. "Firestar doesn't even know what an Animal is. I think we may be in Kansas!"

"Wasn't that Dorothy and her dog, Dodo's, land? Along with—" She was going to say "Along with the Wizard," but somehow she didn't think Elphaba would want to hear that.

"Yes. And I know who you were going to say," she spat.

Their conversation was cut short by an impatient-looking tortoiseshell. "I really think we should be going if we want to get back by sundown," she said, and hurried off.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Elphie, we have to help them find, oh, what was it! June? No, Junny? No, that's not it either!" Glinda cried out in frustration.

"I think you mean juniper," a gray she-cat said before she hobbled after the other cat.

"Right! That's it. C'mon, we'd better catch up!" Bewildered, Elphaba chased after the retreating cats.

**(PAGEBREAK, and Glinda's POV)**

Glinda collapsed into a bed of moss in the warriors' den. She was so tired, she didn't even care that specks of moss were sticking to her glossy pelt. Moments later, Elphaba dropped next to her. Irritated cats grumbled at this and shuffled farther away. Elphaba said nothing, she just curled up into a tight ball—her fur just barley brushing Glinda's—and appeared to go to sleep.

"'Night, Elphie," murmured a half-asleep Glinda, before she, too, drifted off to dreamland.

_Swirling mist…darkness…green…and… What? _Is that a city?_ Thoughts became part of the mist, written in a language of its own… Noise…metals clashing…rifles booming…men swearing…women screaming… children crying… _Is this real?_ is written again in the mist. There is no answer… A figure advances. _Who are you?_ Was that out loud? or was it a thought? There still is no reply… Suddenly a loud, high-pitched wail breaks away from the dull roar of a fight… Glinda whirled to face the sound… She is human again, but her dress is ragged and black… She does a complete circle to find that the noise… the noise is coming from her… The figure… no _figures_… are closer. They carry lighted torches… a chant rises above the scream, _Kill her! Kill the witch!…_ The screaming gets louder, and a dull beat engulfs all sound. _Thump, thump… thump, thump… thump, thump…_ With growing horror, Glinda realizes the sound… it is her own heart… she spins and tries to run, only to fall flat on her face. Her feet are tied together… She pulls up, and lets out a yelp._ When did my hair get so long… and black…_ Realization hits… two luminescent emerald green hands obscure all view… shaking, trembling, sobbing… and then…_

Silence.

**(PAGEBREAK!)**

Elphaba gently prodded her friend awake. Glinda let out a quiet gasp and shriek before remembering. She was in the warriors' den, was a cat, and definitely _wasn't_ about to be killed.

"Elphie, you scared me," she breathed.

"It's okay, Glinda," Elphaba soothed. "You're… well, not fine, just, unharmed."

Glinda let out a quiet chuckle. "Thanks for waking me up. I was having this dream…" Only, Glinda found that she couldn't remember the dream at all. And, the more she tried to remember, the more she forgot. "What time is it?"

Elphaba glanced out of the den. "About… a few clock-ticks before sunrise."

"Oh, I guess we could get up, then." Glinda heaved herself onto her paws and emerged into the misty clearing.

Glinda let out an almost inaudible gasp as part of the dream came back to her.

"Glinda, is something wrong?" Elphaba asked.

"N-No," she answered. "N-Nothing's wrong." But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. Something was coming… something big.

"Oh, look," Elphaba mewed. "That must be the dawn patrol leaving." She pointed with her tail at a group of four cats leaving the camp.

"How do you know that?" Glinda's own ignorance was beginning to catch up with her.

"Firestar told me… When I asked him about his rites as an Animal. And he had _absolutely_ no idea what in Oz's name I was talking about."

"Oh."

The patrol was made up of Cloudtail, Dustpelt (who stared considerably at Glinda, Elphaba noted), Sandstorm and Spiderleg.

Cloudtail, Glinda assumed by his gleaming white pelt, dropped a rabbit on a pile of assorted dead rodents.

"Elphie, why are they collecting rodents?" Glinda whispered.

"That's the fresh-kill pile," Elphaba whispered back. "A cat (or Cat) has to eat, don't they?"

Suddenly Glinda wasn't as hungry as she thought, the last time she'd eaten having been hours before she went to plead with Elphaba. And even then, it wasn't much; her throat had felt clogged with worry for her friend.

Sighing, Glinda followed Elphaba to the pile and grabbed what she thought was a shrew. She didn't see what Elphaba selected, because, at that moment, Dustpelt asked her if she wanted to eat with him.

"Oh, um…sure, okay. Why not?" she answered and followed him to a tree stump and dropped her fresh-kill.

They ate in silence, with Glinda, at first, trying not to retch over tearing apart the shrew—_with her own teeth._ She thought wistfully about her maids, who never even let her tear off another piece of a cooked chicken, and now look at her. The forest was going to change her… for the better?

**A/N: Okay, it took forever, but I'm doing my best. If anyone with a AIM screenname would like to beta and help with my writer's block, just review and tell me it, or personal message me. Help is much appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, don't mob me! It's been forever, I know. School and crap. _DON'T KILL ME!!_**

**I know, I have the disclaimer in the summary, but I felt like putting one here.**

**Disclaimer: Is dead. _I'm not dead._ Oh, yes you are. _I'm not dead._ You're not fooling anyone. I can't take 'im like that. Oh, just wait, he'll be stone dead in a moment. _I don't want to go on the cart._ Oh, quit being such a baby. _I feel fine._ When's your next round? Thursday.I can't wait that long. _Just let me go._ Can you do me a favor? You know I can't. Aww, c'mon, please? –slams disclaimer on head- _-falls limp-_ Here's your pay. Thank you. –drives away-**

**I love Monty Python.**

**Wicked Meets Warriors—Chapter Four**

_"The forest was going to change her…for the better?"_

Glinda and Dustpelt finished their fresh-kill. Glinda ran over to Elphaba, who was trying to hide a snicker.

"What?" Glinda demanded. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, don't be like that," Elphaba responded. "You know he likes you."

"Who, you mean Dustpelt. No, no he doesn't." _He can't,_ Glinda thought, _I don't—no, _can't_—like him back. Oz knows what happened the last time that I liked someone. _Her thoughts drifted to Fiyero. _Oh, is he watching us now? Is he there, there with the Unnamed God?_ Sighing, Glinda put her head down on her paws. _Maybe I _do_ like Dustpelt. Maybe. But, I can't let that happen again. My poor, wounded heart can't—or won't—take it again. If he rejects me… I don't know what would happen to me, then. The only thing I have left is Elphie. That's all that matters to me right now._

"Glinda?" came a soft mew from behind her. She whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Firestar. "This is Sandstorm. She volunteered to teach you and Elphaba how to hunt for the clan."

"Yessir," Glinda mumbled.

"Follow me," Sandstorm mewed and went through the gorse tunnel.

Glinda stole a glance at Elphaba—only to find that her friend had already taken off after Sandstorm.

"Elphie!" she squealed as she took off after them.

Sandstorm let the witches through a short stretch of forest before they came upon a hollow.

"This is the Sandy Hollow," Sandstorm explained, "it's where the apprentices come to train. Only, you're here because Firestar says you don't know how to hunt.

"Now, this is the way to stalk a mouse…"

**

* * *

**

At around noon,—_Sunhigh, _Glinda reminded herself,—Sandstorm, who _looked_ pleased, led Glinda and Elphaba back to the ThunderClan camp, with a few mice, voles and a single squirrel. Glinda dropped her load of fresh-kill and grabbed the squirrel for herself.

"Elphaba, want to eat with me?" Glinda asked her friend.

"Sure," Elphaba replied. "Where, over there, by the warriors' den?"

"Sounds good to me," Glinda replied, and the two walked side-by-side to the den.

When Glinda took the first bite of squirrel, she immediately spat out a mouthful of fur.

"What? Swallow something?" Elphaba asked. Her voice sounded serious, but Glinda could see amusement shining in her eyes.

"Oh, shut up," she replied irritably. "If you think it's so funny, then _you_ can eat the squirrel, and I'll take your vole."

"Fine." Elphaba took Glinda's squirrel and ate several mouthfuls without complaining.

"You're hopeless!" Glinda cried, and she turned to the vole.

Not much later, they were joined by Cloudtail and Brightheart. Glinda almost stared at Brightheart's injuries, but she was too used to a physical… disability? misfunction? disformification?… whichever, she was used avoiding Elphaba's green verdigris. Actually, she'd gotten so used to it that she'd been generally shocked when the Clan stared. Either way, Brightheart's scarred face was nothing to stare at, in Glinda's eyes. She did, however, want to know what happened—but, she also wasn't going to ask.

"Hello, Cloudtail, Brightheart," Elphaba mewed politely.

"Mind if we join you?" Brightheart asked.

"Not at all," Elphaba replied.

Cloudtail might have started up conversation, but Glinda was off in her own world, daydreaming. She hadn't realized she wasn't listening until Elphaba jabbed her sharply in the side with her forepaw.

"Ow! Elphie, what was that for?"

"Brightheart asked you a question!" Elphaba said, then she muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "She isn't even blonde anymore and she acts it."

"I'm sorry, Brightheart, what did you say?" Glinda made a mental note to smack—or swat?—Elphaba over the head later on.

"I asked if you wanted to go hunting later on. It's getting close to leaf-bare and with prey getting scarce, we need to build up the Clan's stores," Brightheart explained.

"Uh… sure, why not?"**

* * *

**

Days went by fairly quickly for Glinda and Elphaba. It must have been… three weeks or so since they had arrived at the forest. At least, according to Glinda's reasoning it was. She briefly wondered what the witch hunters had said when they'd arrived to find Kiamo Ko empty. _They must've been happy,_ Glinda mused,_ their enemy disappeared. But, are they sad that I'm gone, too? Am I even missed? Who took over? The Wizard—_Glinda cut off her thoughts before they drove her mad. It would do her no good to let unanswered questions bug her, not when there was no possible way to find the answer.

Before Glinda knew it, she was being asked to be assessed for her hunting and fighting skills. Elphaba seemed pleased with this, she apparently knew what it meant.

Glinda was asked to hunt near Sunningrocks, where she liked to lay out and warm her fur. Elphaba was hunting near Tallpines, where Twolegs—_Odd, _Glinda thought, _I hardly sould like the figurehead of Oz, now I sould like a forest-born Clan cat—_grew pine trees to cut for wood.

Glinda headed out to Sunningrocks with Dustpelt, the two had grown quite close. When they got there, however, Dustpelt seemingly disappeared. Not worrying too much, Glinda turned her attention to smelling prey.

After a few clock-tics, she scented a vole crawling along the riverbank. Without thinking, Glinda dropped into a hunter's crouch and leaped at the vole before it scented her.

When Dustpelt showed up, between sunhigh and sunset, Glinda had caught a reasonable amount of prey. He helped her carry her catch into camp and the two sat with some fresh-kill to wait for Elphaba.

"Firestar will be pleased," Dustpelt said. "You've caught a good amount of prey. Depending on your fighting skills, he might make you a warrior."

**A/N: I'm deciding to stop there. So, again, sorry about the long wait, but I haven't had time to write, and when I did, I had writer's block. So, review and make my day:) Oh, right, and the pagebreak line thingie is working again! YAY!**


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